The year of corona

The Chinese new year predates the Christ Era calendar by nearly 2700 years. To be precise, the Chinese new year 4718 began on January 25, 2020 and marked the beginning of a new 12 year cycle with each year identified with an animal. Accordingly, this is the year of the rat which symbolizes renewal, resourcefulness and wealth. Only if life was that predictable. The new year was actually hit by a deadly virus sending not only China but the entire planet reeling from country to country and continent to continent. Within weeks, the epidemic that was first detected in Wuhan, had been upgraded to a pandemic reaching all corners of the globe.

In all humility, we are living through the year of the coronavirus. The changes witnessed in the last few months are phenomenal. If the average human mind is capable of fathoming the trends at play, it must question the prevalent way of working, moving and socializing, things taken for granted in the modern age.

The first thing to ponder is the system of mass transit. Millions get to inhale the same air, freely exchanging germs. New ways of work by using modern technologies without mass transit should be explored.

The next area to be scrutinised is that of travel, tourism and spectator sports which again bring multitudes in close contact. All these will remain badly affected in the coming months, possibly years.

Globalization, as we know it, has touched a perilous dimension with the spectre of a disease going global within days. Nations will need to coordinate efforts to cope with the downside of globalization even though statecraft is a field where the urgent usually takes precedence over the important. But imagine a world which fails to recognize the challenges facing it from now onwards and unable to find agreed common solutions for the collective good of mankind.

If you thought that a pandemic directly or indirectly affecting a large part of humanity and taking nearly half a million lives so far would bring some sobering thoughts about the way forward, you will be disappointed.

It is painful to witness how world leaders made tackling the threat of a fast spreading virus a matter of personal preferences, discarding professional advice, notably from the World Health Organisation, collectively entrusted to deal with international health emergencies. The result was an alarming delay in isolating pockets of high incidence in most countries unlike China which took drastic measures to prevent intracity and intercity movement.

The WHO has been at the receiving end of President Trump's scorn, who besides routinely criticizing the body also ordered to stop American funding, creating a serious obstacle in its activities. Trump has already weakened America's diplomatic service, leading to an unprecedented malaise in the State Department.

It is not clear what Trump hopes to gain by mauling the international system the world has painstakingly built over a century.

Take the system of trade liberalization commonly known as globalization. Rather than engaging the major trading partners to bring changes in the existing system, Trump shoots first and talks later. His idea of bringing back assembly line manufacturing can be very costly to ordinary Americans who already feel squeezed by the growing concentration of wealth among the rich.

The pandemic has turned economies upside down, with the US losing the most. The International Financial Institutions are churning out gloomy predictions about global and national growth this year. They are taking their forecasting role too seriously and not explaining what they plan to do in order to bring down the levels of economic hardship across the globe.

Business-as-usual for some means suffering for many. Like the policeman in Minneapolis who thought that pressing his knee on a fleeing man was more important than having pity in times like these. The incident served as the proverbial last straw that broke the ordinary people's backs with 40 million already jobless. Trump's handling of the Black Lives Matter protests has further divided the American people.

The business-as-usual approach has also led to a showdown between the world's two most populous countries at the roof of the world in Ladakh area. After dividing the Indian people, the BJP/RSS high command marched on to disturb a precarious status quo in occupied Jammu & Kashmir by scrapping Articles 370 and 35-A meant to give constitutional cover to the disputed territory's special status. The cost in terms of colonizing a people with the help of curfews and deploying a million strong force do not seem to deter the present rulers in Delhi.

Encouraged by the international community's pusillanimous attitude, the Indians moved on to building new roads and infrastructure provoking the Chinese with tragic fallout. Yet, there is little likelihood of Modi seeing virtue in dialogue and peace with the neighbours. The Indian media which had acquiesced in Modi's strong-arm tactics against the Kashmiri people is beginning to stir after what they perceive as a humiliation at the hands of the People's Liberation Army.

Where does Pakistan stand in the times of corona? Erring and squabbling like many others. As a result, going up in the list of most affected nations. Yet divisive and abusive politics takes centre stage, in evidence from daytime parliamentary circus to nighttime shouting matches.

This is a time to lead by example, not of 'I told you so' by impulse.

Email: saeed.saeedk@gmail.com